Ducati Essay Example for Free

Ducati Essay Patrick EnglandDucati individual write up #3 Management 495 2/7/2012 Can Ducati sustain its position in the sport segment? Can Honda and other Japanese manufactures stop its growth in this segment? The ability for Ducati to sustain its position in the sport segment of motorcycles is going to depend on management’s ability to stay focused on keeping their image and story alive and in the minds of the motorcycle community. If management continues its current trend I believe that they can sustain their position, although there are challenges posed by the Japanese firms and changes in Ducati itself can also play a role in their ability to maintain their growth and position as the high end advanced sport bikes. Ducati’s decision to move from a mechanical company to an entertainment company could be the source of its success or its failure. The company to this point in 2001 had become known for their exotic engineering and design, focusing on beating the completion by any means, even if it involved producing a bike that many might call ugly or not the traditional motorcycle, so Ducati was running the risk of turning away the very customers and removing the image that had built them to the company they had become. But the decision made by Minoli, to become more of an entertainment company and to produce products that could be attractable by a wider variety of customers could also spur growth and market share that the company desperately wanted and needed if it was going to continue to compete with the Japanese bikes. I believe that if the management at Ducati can continue to make this â€Å"turnaround† hold and follow through with the goals laid out in it, then yes they can sustain their position, although any deviation or getting lack in the respects of implementing these long term goals will in my opinion hurt them greatly, for it is the image and the brand that Ducati represents that makes their products wanted. If they try too hard to copy the functions and company structure of competitors they very well may be destroying their core competitive advantage of image and product uniqueness. Japanese manufactures have been pushing hard in the sport market and have the capital and business structure to make a full fledge effort to take market share in the sport division. Honda and others have the ability to mimic the aspects of Ducati that have made them so revered by customers (mainly new technology and exotic styling) while still maintain their reliability and cost advantage. They will still continue to struggle with the â€Å"cookie cutter† image that has plagued them throughout their history, and I believe that if they can try to separate products in their sport division and create the image of uniqueness and exoticness that people associate with Ducati, then they definitely can pose a serious threat.

Childhood Memories of Dad :: Descriptive Writing Examples

Cold winters, hot summers, pokey gravel, darkness, inconvenient tools and deterioration of the old hotrods. All of this came to an abrupt hault when a father and son's dream became a reality. A place of our own to operate without distractions. A place to bring our thoughts together and mechanically reconstruct cars and repair them within our own limits. This place that my dad and I started building would be known as "The Shop" or a.k.a. "Hopshop." This shop is the last project that my dad started and I was going to finish it. It all started by excavating the ground that would one-day support this shop. The shop plans had been previously made and were followed exactly. After the concrete was poured and steel beams were secured, it was ready to put the metal siding on. Within the concrete is our handprints and names, which makes it even more special to me. This sturdy architecture was unable to be finished because of the lack of expenses, after my dad's death. After that cold lonely winter, leading to the on coming year flew by very swiftly. I finally overcame my fear and decided that it was time to step up and find the will to complete the project. It took some time and money, but finally it was completed. It included automatic garage doors, sophisticated lighting system, a pellet stove for the cold winters and an air conditioner for the scorching summer. I moved all of our air tools, craftsman wrenches, sockets, vises, grinders, and the vehicles. In addition to the shop, there are things within the shop that have stories to them, making it what it is, such as the toolbox, Mustang, and Bronco. The Mustang was my dad's and it has been his since it was first manufactured. We were going to restore it to its original look that was established from my dad's artistic ability. Designing it with gloss black and flames coming from both fender wells. It had 20 inch racing slicks with a 4:11 positive track pushing 400 horses with its 302 boss engine. I remember how it used to smell, like hot dust leather and it used to suck me back in the seat almost giving me whiplash. We called The "Stang." It has been wrecked but only has a minor dent in its front right fender. The engine is now in my dad's 79 Ford but the

English Department Essay

From various literatures, there is no clear definition about what postmodernism is. Dr. Mary Klages (2003), Associate Professor in the English Department at University of Colorado, says that postmodernism cannot be defined in a single term. Instead, postmodernism can be considered as a complex term since it appears as a concept that exists in variety of study including art, science, sociology, and technology. Postmodernism present as the sign of new times, an outcome of changing trends in all areas of human life, the irruption of new social, political, cultural, and economic values which are maddening great human behavioural changes in organizations. In addition, the postmodernism is considered as a new expression of philosophic, ontological, methodological, scientific, artistic, political, social, economic, etc. trends, and therefore a new outlook which set limits and deficiencies on modern expressions. Moreover, postmodernism is a new paradigm approach to knowledge, and it is also a new paradigm of aesthetic. Concerning the discussion of postmodernism, information science and technology, this paper will take into account the discussion about knowledge management in organizations. The reason to include the discussion of postmodernism in organizations is because it represents the use of information science, sociology, and knowledge. I. 2 Characteristics of Postmodernism Organizations Any structure can be called as an organization because it is designed to carry out a given purpose. Organizations are living systems, oriented in the direction of a trend of self-organized patterns, structures and processes which respond to demands of a complex and confused, changing environment through constant and permanent learning. Historically, organization theory originated from academic institutions within the context of socially legitimized public institutions. Under such circumstances, learning capacity of organizations becomes key determinant in their survival to face various business challenges. Some characteristics of postmodernism organizations which influence on organizational analysis are as following: 1. Identification With â€Å"might being† 2. Emphasis Effectiveness 3. Structure In function of market needs 4. Focus of power Centralized in knowledge and experience 5. Orientation Toward Market (Boje, M & Dennehy 2000) In organization practices, it is found that postmodernism tends to force the organizations to avoid human beings from bureaucratic structures. This is because postmodernism has the philosophy to provide simplicity instead of complexity (Boje, M & Dennehy 2000). Links between modernity and postmodernism Modernity is often characterized by comparing modern societies to pre-modern or post-modern ones, and the understanding of those non-modern social statuses is far from an issue. To an extent, it is reasonable to doubt the very possibility of a descriptive concept that can adequately capture diverse realities of societies of various historical contexts. In term of social structure, many of the defining events and characteristics listed above stem from a transition from relatively isolated local communities to a more integrated large-scale society. There is a shift from the model of the modernist, factory-bureaucracy: a rigid structure, with everything in place to do its particular function to the place where it has a connected with different types changing formation in response to the conditions. II. Postmodernism, Social Science and technology In sociology point of view, there is a notion that postmodernism is considered as the results of the changes in economy, culture, and demography. In addition, postmodernism is also considered as the factors that contribute to the rise of service economy and the increasing interdependence of world economy. Concerning the relation of postmodernism in technology, there is a notion that technological utopianism is a common trait in Western history and it is true in postmodernism era with some changes in the manifestation. In postmodernism era, the expression of technology comes in the form of the sudden increase in analog mass broadcasting of television. In this situation, people see the mass broadcasting of television as a liberating force to human affairs since television has capability to provide various understandable symbols. This situation drives Newton N Minow to consider television as â€Å"a vast wasteland. † Another expression of technology in postmodernism era is the development of digital networking. In this view, digital communications are believed to provide modern society with positive feature since people are now enabling to experiences in art, culture, and community that they think as being correct.

Picasso At The Lapin Agile Essay - 761 Words

Picasso at the Lapin Agile From the time you enter the Falk Theatre, until the curtain rises and falls on the production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, you are in for a treat. The play is an original work by Steve Martin with a running time of 90minutes, which feels more like 30minutes. Aside from the uncomfortable seating, this production is nothing short of wonderful. The Theatre has been transformed from a long movie Theater atmosphere to a quaint surrounding by means of risers that are placed directly on the stage. The new seating divides the old Theater in half and allows for the actors and the audience to share the same space. Not only this atmosphere that makes it wonderful but also the performances, the direction, the design†¦show more content†¦In the set design, we first see the use of layering, with a large cyclorama that has been painted onto a piece of scrim to allow for a visual effect at the end of the play. The painting depicts a beautiful scene of â€Å"sheep in a meadow in the fogâ € , with a wall to represent the interior of the â€Å"Lapin Agile† containing a painting of â€Å"sheep in a meadow in the fog†. On each side of this backdrop are doors: the entrance to the bar and the other the to the bathroom. The emphasis on details can be noticed in the set with the signs that are posted on either side of the bathroom door, which swings freely when pushed. The door has a board on it the says ‘OUI’ and when it is flung in the opposite direction it too says ‘OUI’ a creative and pun intended ‘wee wee’. This is a subtlety in the stage design that brings the humor away from the actual text and into an unusual place, the set. Little things like these accentuate my appreciation of the production as a whole. The lighting is also something that was exceptionally well done. The designers used a large amount of light with soft yellow and orange tones to give an overall feeling of warmth to the setting. The day moves from morning to night with the most drastic change at nightfall where the tones switch to blues and the star light shine across the cyclorama. It is perhaps the blocking from the director and the skills of the actors though that makes this performance so wonderful. The technique of layering was used by both in howShow MoreRelatedAnnual Ring Essay2117 Words   |  9 Pagesa working-class area long time ago. As you can imagine, they were very poor back in the days. However, people who lived in the area were inspired by the colors and the rural aspect of Montmartre that recognizes Picasso and another famous cabaret, the Lapin Agile. There is a Musee Picasso in Paris. If you are interested in art, I recommend you visit there. It is located in 3 arrondissement. (Destination 360, 2017) After you enjoy and rest your feet at a cafà © in the Quartier Montmartre, head north